Will roses grow in Virginia? When should I plant roses in Virginia?

The answer to the first question: Do roses grow in Virginia? Yes, they most certainly do!

Many gardeners in Virginia and elsewhere tend to hang around until April or May before they decide to purchase roses in bloom. After which, they plant those roses in bloom – as you would expect. But, fact is, there are advantages to planting roses earlier than this.

Roses are either sold as bare-root plants or in containers. In general, roses are available to buy in Virginia nurseries from January onwards. 

The advice is to invest in roses when they first become available. This way you’ll likely get what you’re looking for. If you leave it too long stocks may have dwindled. 

For bare-root roses, in Virginia, make your purchase either in late winter or in early springtime. That’s also when you want to plant bare-root roses.

The reason why you want to do this is the plants will become established in your garden well in advance of blooming. 

You shouldn’t buy bare-root roses once February has come and gone. Once we’re into March in Virginia bare-root roses that are still being sold by nurseries will already have emerged from dormancy. This is NOT the ideal time to plant bare-root roses.

Container-grown roses, on the other hand; well, those can be planted throughout the growing season. However, the rule is that the earlier you plant container-grown roses the better it is. If you plant, say, in March, your new roses will have plenty of time to establish in your garden before they re-enter into dormancy when the weather gets cold in fall. And they’ll have enough time for the roots to become established before blooming.

Furthermore, roses – bare-root or container-grown, will have plenty of time to settle before summertime temperatures rise. 

You see, roses become stressed when they are subjected to high temperatures. Roses also become stressed, believe it or not, when they bloom. 

Hence, the more time available to freshly planted roses before they start to bloom and before high temperatures set in the better for the roses and the better for you as well.

Image by David Mark from Pixabay